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The Augusta News-Review - March 1, 1973, ■Walking ■ |l| With |/|| 111 Dignity ||| si?! 11 Jby Al Irby y? I STREET CORNER RESEARCH GIVES THE WHITE PRESS AND LIBERALS A FALSE CONCEPTION ABOUT BLACK PEOPLE AND THEY JUMP TO A BIAS CONCLUSION THAT HAS CREATED MANY MYTHS ABOUT THE BLACK POPULATION. THIS GROSS SOPHISTRY HAS POISONED THE MINDS OF MANY WHITES TOWARD BLACKS. There is a well known adage that says in substance: We hurt or destroy the ones or things we love. There is no place where this proverb applies better than with the two most ardent supporters of black aspiration - white liberals and the news media. These two important segments of our culture with their erroreous efforts have embodied a series of adverse myth against the group, that they outwardly seek to help. They have wearied the blacks with their “street-corner research” and senseless statistics of them. Most of the policies toward blacks have revolved around a social theological untruth. One of the most damaging myths deals with a in-built class structure within the group; middle-class “Negroes” and the “Real Blacks.” The middle class Negro supposedly has lost his true identity on the periphery of the white man’s mainstream, and has no concern for his people. According to this hypothesis, the so-called middle-class Negro does well on the white man’s tasks, because he is for real a black-white person. Given the opportunity he will pursue his own narrow self interest, rather than seeking the advancement of his race. STREET CORNER RESEARCH DISCRIMINATES AGAINST THOSE BLACKS THAT WORK AND LEAD A DECENT LIFE IN FAVOR OF THOSE ON THEIR RACE WHO MAKE NOISE AND NOTORIETY. “On the other hand the “real black” is proud of his identity and is committed to the advancement to black people. He is too steeped in his own culture to score well on white, culturally biased tests, but he has real abilities, that he will use in service to his race.” KILLING US SOFTLY- This false dichotomy is the well known plantation technique, that has always kept fighting among themselves. This biased view suggests that any program that really elects to help black people should concentrate on what some whites call authentic ghetto-blacks, conceived by a white myth. Some whites assume these fallacious conclusions for real; an example, they assume that all bright and responsible blacks are from middle-class backgrounds. The blacks in America are like any other groups, some are good, and some are bad; but there is a myth, that would put them in two groups. One having all the brains and the other having all the moral purity. Only a look at the facts, and the mechanics of myth making can show how completely absurd these misconceptions are. DE-MYTHING - Only a very small percentage of the black population is really middle-class in the sense of being doctors, lawyers or other big earning groups. There are almost no upper-class in the sense of having great hereditary wealth. Most black persons are not poverty-stricken, either. The myth concentrates on the minority of blacksand ignores the fact that most blacks are working-class people. They are employed at jobs ranging from low-paying, unskilled labor to moderately prosperous occupations that require high skill, experience, and college education. The so-called black-power that has emerged in the press is shared by very few black persons. BAYARD RUSTIN POINTS OUT A FEW OF THE ABSTRACT ABSURDITY OF THE AMERICAN NEWS MEDIA TOWARD MYTHOLOGICAL CONCEPTS ABOUT BLACK PEOPLE. Bayard Rustin, the well known Civil Rights leader made this enlightening observation: “The amount of publicity given to a black group has varied in reverse proportion to its size. Thus, if the NAACP has 400 times more members than the Black Panthers, the Panthers will receive 400 times more publicity than the NAACP.” Rustin’s estimate is accurate of what is observed empirically. Here are some important reasons why it is so. The news media, and the well-meaning white liberals, tend to festure the unusual and to overlook the basic facts of life among black Americans. (1) Most blacks are not on welfare, and most people on welfare are not blacks. (2) Most black families have both parents present, and have incomes above the official poverty level. (3) Organizations such as the NAACP and leaders such as the late Dr. Martin Luther King, have had many times more supporters than various extremist groups or their highly publicized spokesmen. None of this implies that all is well. It does imply that they are far more interested in forcing improvements than in harboring revelationic visions or consoling themselves with mysticism. White liberals have been particularly susceptible to the idea that there is such a thing as black philosophy and that militant black leaders have it. Some white liberals are romantics of a sort who regard every fringe as a vanguard. Some are cynical pragmatists who give the oil to the squeaking wheel as a tactical measure to minimize administration’s headaches. Some of these whites are simply lazy, and think of black people in terms of the noise-makers, instead of taking the trouble to understand a very complex problem. There are certainly built-in biases toward the black community in these street centered social research, as well as in news gathering. The first is the lure of the unusual or the pathological, both in terms of its inherent interest and its potential benefit to the researchers. No sociologist or author are going to make a reputation or earn a dime writing about black people, that go to work every day, pay their debts, and school their children. Another tactical error made by researchers is the fact that they do their researching in the daytime; when the solid blacks are working. They talk to the unemployed, the loafers and the pool-hall sharks, then they hurry to their typewriters to draw word-pictures, that really portray an utter fallacious picture. ( A THOUGHT ON THE LOCAL HORIZON ) A bouquet of roses to Miss Evelyn Gilbert of 722 Fleming Avenue, for her courageous and perspicacious letter to the Chronicle, last Sunday concerning Lendell Hunter. This indignant lady in a highly intelligent way, solidly told it like it is. DR. NELSON SMITH, OF THE NEW PILGRIM BAPTIST CHURCH, BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA, HAS BEEN EXPOUNDING THE “BLESSED EVANGEL” IN ALL OF ITS GRANDEUR, THIS WEEK AT TABERNACLE. HOPE SOME OF MY READERS WERE EXPOSED. Page 4 I Speaking | I From | ÜBft Athens | * ft Roosevelt Green, Jr. A number of situations in Augusta and Athens are disturbing to this writer at the moment. It seems that the problems of Blacks in both communities are worsened by inept and racist white public officials. When will they ever learn that Black people are not playing the fool role any longer. Presently, there is a big manhunt for a Black criminal fugitive in Augusta, Ga. A five thousand ($5,000) dollars reward has been posted for his capture. White police and other officials have asked the local Black leaders to assist them in this vendetta. Once he is captured, the fugitive is supposed to be transferred to some correctional institution or tried for additional crimes. White citizens and some Blacks are reportedly buying small weapons or hand guns because of fears of this one Black man. However, it should be noted that if that young Black man had been white, he would have probably been recommended for psychiatric care. Also, the Black community has never been asked to assist in the capture of a white criminal offender on this level in the past. This coupled with the nature of some of his alleged offenses creates great fear in the minds of white males in veiw of sex and racism. It is a wonder those public officials have not offered a million dollars for the capture of that young Black brother. Let us all hope that he does not get killed on sight by trigger happy white policemen or citizens. Speaking of policemen, it is quite upsetting and enraging for this writer to observe policemen patroling the Black Community with rifles and shotguns clearly visible in their patrol cars. The open display of weapons is obviously designed to strike fear in the hearts of the Black citizens whose communities are overly patrolled and underprotected by local policemen in both Augusta and Athens. This writer has observed white policemen jumping out of patrol cars with their shotguns or rifles drawn in a menacing manner. It does not take much imagination to conclude that white policemen will not be dealt with justly if they shoot or “beat up” Black citizens. Police brutality is a common phenomenon in Black communities across this country. White citizens who are usually treated fairly by their white policemen feel and believe that the charge of police brutality is a false issue. The thing that is equally disturbing is that Black and white leadership is not in honest communication with each other, in Athens or Augusta. Augusta has some good Black leadership but Athens is at a great disadvantage because of poor to no leadership. It is interesting to see white leaders in both communities select the Black leaders that are “safe” or generally passive and who are not respected by Black people in general in order to foster a sense of false community harmony. True, Black leaders are willing to deal with the basic community issues but white leaders prefer to play “games” or “tricks” rather than “coming to grips” with Black and white problems. The white leadership in Augusta is notorious for racism in general and for buying off or co-opting some “safe” Black leaders. Augusta is virtually an armed camp with both Blacks and whites buying weapons daily on a large scale basis. The town is like a powder keg that could erupt into violence at any time. Since whites are in the majority and control the power it is they who should lead the way in defusing Augusta. Instead, all one gets is silence from the whites in Augusta who should come forward to deal honestly and courageously with community problems. Perhaps the concerned white citizens are afraid of their white peers and will therefore wait until another violent community crisis before taking their necessary positions on basic issues. The report of the National Urban League who studied Augusta after the May 11, 1970 civil disorders has meant practically nothing to white leaders and the white community. Employment discrimination is greater than ever in Augusta. One only has to look at some of the major employers of Augusta to see few, if any Blacks in key positions. The most common lie to say “qualified” Blacks cannot be found. Some of the major industries, hospitals, educational institutions, and the local Army facility have virtually lily white non-menial and upper level positions. Blacks in Augusta must organize and begin to deal consistently with the previously named centers of racial discrimination. White preachers or ministers in both Athens and Augusta are generally more concerned about saving souls than bodies. The Christian Gospel is not really preached or practiced by those oracles of chloroform sermons. One well known white minister who heads one of the leading churches had an anti-busing sticker on his car. He is also preaching each week to a lily white congregation where only invited Blacks are allowed to worship. It would be wonderful if we had some white Jeremiahs and Ezekiels to come forward in Augusta. Some of the white churches even have private schools for the white children of parents who oppose school desegregation. Athens is a peculiar community. It was only recently that the Mayor and City Council of Athens rejected an annexation bid on the part of a local Black community area. The Black population of Athens would have increased from ten (10%) per cent to twenty (20%) per cent if that annexation bid had succeeded. It is often amusing for this writer and some of his Black or white friends to enter a number of local restaurants. We are nearly always “celebrities” in that we are the main attraction in any eating establishment until we leave. Also, most of the whites seated around us at any given time will suddenly leave. Black people must be powerful if they can “thin out” a restaurant here at will or non-will. All of this is strange when one recalls the fact that the desegregation of most public facilities is “Old Hat” at this time. Beyond the Athens and Augusta “jive” is the returning prisoneers of war issue. White newspapers and other media waste no time in blowing this matter out of proportion. The sympathy and empathy of the American people is played upon to the extreme so that other more vital domestic issues areoverlooked. It should help any Black P.O.W. to be patriotic in Augusta once he learns that local white parents are opposed to school desegregation and do not want their white children to attend school with his children. It is imperative and utterly necessary for draft dodgers and military deserters to be granted amnesty if America is to begin to heal her internal war wounds. Each president in the past has granted amnesty to those men who fall in the above category and it is necessary for the current president to do the same. This is a burning issue for white super patriots but they must remember that the Viet Nam or Indo-China War is an illegal and immoral war. Congress has never declared war as our United States Constitution requires. Something must be worked out for those men who did not want to die in Viet Nam for nothing. Finally, the P.O.W. issue is blown out of proportion so that |pGOING~ II PLACES f - Os I' ’ I A With Philip Waring ? Material for today’s column is from the Chicago Defender and points to two very important events. POVERTY PROGRAMS AXED President Nixon’s mammoth economic retrenchment is causing much anxiety among the masses of the people, especially those who voted for his second term at the White House. His proposal fiscal budget calls for dismantling of the social agencies created by Kennedy and Johnson to allay the ravages of poverty and to instill faith in the American system of government. One of the large components that the Nixon axe is chopping off is the Office of Economic Opportunity which the late Pres. Johnson established to fight poverty and to bring the masses of the American people into the stream of the Great Society. That isn’t all. The Job Corps which provided much needed experience for the nation’s youth is to be eliminated. To be demolished also are the Model Cities program, Urban Renewal. The funding of health, housing, education and other social programs will be drastically cut. More than 900 community action agencies scattered across the country will be ended as far as federal support is concerned. Community action was the focus of the Johnson Administration s war on poverty. The agencies Mr. Nixon is abolishing have a wide range of activities and programs for the poor, the blacks particularly in urban and rural settings and were intended to speak for the poor before public bodies in the public arena. Mr. Nixon also plans to abolish the Office of Science and Technology. That plan is under sharp criticism from the Federation of American Scientists which issued a statement saying that scientist in the Nixon Administration were being reduced to “a lesser and more subordinate role.” There you have the full spectrum of the Administration’s plan to back away from its responsibility in areas vital to the masses of the people and to the national interest. That’s how Mr. Nixon is interpreting the mandate the voters gave him in November. THE BLACK CAUCUS By a unanimous vote, Rep. Louis Stokes has been re-elected chairman of the Congressional Caucus. The Caucus’s numerical strength has increased slightly by the addition of three new members elected last November. They are Rep. Yvonne Burke of California, Rep. Barbara Jordan of Texas, and Rep. Andrew Young of Georgia. The new members are astute political tacticians who should steer the Caucus into effective channels of useful actions. With the appointment of Dr. A.A. Adair as the group’s executive director, the Caucus, no doubt, will be in a position to devise the right strategy for appropriate concentration of its power. Morgan State College in Baltimore. He is a very able man who can do much toward the development of an incisive program of positive action on a national scale. The Black Caucus has the potential of being the leading Black sector in American politics. To do so, however, it must have unity of purpose, unity of action and it must be consistent. ' LETTERS TO EDITOR | WHY ALTO? Editor, The Chronicle Your editorial asks why Alto? I, a black citizen of Georgia also ask why Alto. You suggest that a maximum-security institution would seem indicated. I suggest that a mental institution would have been the only true form of justice. I further suggest that if Lendell Hunter is guilty of the crimes for which he was convicted that he is obviously sick, and that the psychiatrist who declared him otherwise is either mistaken, incompetent, or prejudiced. I moreover suggest that if Hunter had been institutionalized for his mental disorder he would be receiving treatment instead of becoming the victime of a massive manhunt. If he is guilty of the death of Mrs. D’Quosie, then I suggest that all persons who contributed to his sentence to prison instead of a mental institution are equally as guilty for her death. The psychiatrist, the prosecutor, the local law enforcement officers and the judge must realize that had justice prevailed the present situation could have been avoided. Finally, I suggest that if Lendell Hunter had been a white youth he never would have seen Alto. His sentence would have been Milledgeville. Augustans, again you have sown injustice and your are reaping terror. Even in your search for this young man you show no compassion. Why not issue a plea to Hunter to turn himself in? Why not seek the assistance of his family in Americans will continue to overlook the domestic crises of our times. The president is busy destroying social service programs for the poor, the ethnic minorities, and others under the guise of revenue sharing. America must come to her senses and develop an adequate system of care that insures social welfare progress. Our capitalistic system was built on the backs of Black slaves and now our white Americans are causing the children of those slaves to suffer “now more than ever.” Peace Beyone Power asking him to surrender? Is it Hunter that you want or Hunter’s life? The big guns and multitude of policemen indicate that you seek to kill rather than arrest. Augusta is guilty of injustice and the confinement of Hunter to Alto, Reidsville or Atlanta will not change that fact. Sincerely Yours, Evelyn Gilbert 722 Fleming Ave. Augusta, Ga. Editors Note: The above letter was addressed to the Augusta Chronicle-Herald with a carbon copy sent to the News-Review. APPRECIATES COVERAGE Dear Editor: We at Augusta Opportunities Industrialization Center Inc., are deeply appreciative of the fine coverage that your paper has given our program. We are especially grateful to Mr. Bob Oliver for his fine story on OIC in your recent edition. Manpower Programs are going through some trying time in light of the present administration’s austerity program. We will need the help of the total community if the very important work of OIC and other social services programs are to continue in the Augusta area. It will be supporters like you that will insure the continuation of our program. Thank You, Chester R. Trower Augusta Opportunities Industrialization Program TO BE EQUAL /IW A ...—* Verno" E. Jordan, Jr. b OEO GETS THE AXE The office of Economic Opportunity is having a particularly messy death. Once the cutting-edge of the federal War on Poverty, it has been lingering in a half-life for the past few years. Now the official executioners have descended upon it, hacking away with axes at what was once the sole hope of the poor. Launched with fanfare and high hopes, OEO became a victim of budget-cutting to help finance the war in Vietnam. Currently, it is funded at much less than half of its former budget and many of its best programs have been spun off to other Departments. That was part of the original idea behind OEO - that the agency would conduct experimental programs not likely to be started by entrenched bureaucracies in other Departments. But once gone, no new experimental programs were placed under the OEO unbrella. And regular attempts to undermine programs like Legal Service to the poor and community action programs were made. The Administration announced it will totally dismantle OEO, and that it will throw the community actions programs (CAP) to the mercy of local governments. Although more whites than blacks benefitted from its programs, OEO’s guiding concept of “maximum feasible participation” marked the first time black people have become directly involved in participatory democracy in great numbers. For the first time black people who were poor sat on decision-making boards and took part in making decisions on policy and delivery of services by a government agency. And such participation also marked the first time white businessmen, who also sat on CAP boards and boards of other OEO programs, dealth with black people as peers. Many bankers and Chamber of Commerce leaders had the salutary experience of learning first-hand about the problems of the poor, and of seeing for themselves what a huge, previously untapped pool of leadership was contained in the ghettos of America. Especially in the CAP agencies, one could see the emergency of grass-roots leadership among people who might otherwise have simply given up on a system that stacked the deck against them. These programs gave poor people a sense of dealing with their own problems and a control over their own destinies that cannot be replaced. The official line is that such programs aren’t working, but an official of OEO report that was leaked to the press after it was suppressed, documents the success of the nearly 1,000 CAP agenciesaroundthecountry. It proves the program is working and ought to be retained. Even on the cost-benefit scale so revered by budget-cutting management analysts, the relatively inexperienced anti-poverty programs compare favorable with many ventures in private industry and are proven to be far ahead of many big corporations who exist only because of government subsidies costing far more than the small outlay for OEO. One of the myths propounded recently is that OEO hasn’t helped the poor but that it has given jobs to middle class blacks. That statement is wrong because most higher-level employees of the agency are white; because half of the people hired by CAP agencies were poor when they were hired and even now average only $5,200 per year, and because black professionals have a good claim to government jobs as have whites, especially in programs that bring services to the black community. This myth has been used to provide a rationale for ending OEO and for driving a wedge into the black community. The end of OEO will mean more than the loss of some programs and the redistribution of others. It will mean that the only institutionalized voice of the poor people will have been abolished. And it will stand as a symbol of the federal government’s indifference to minorities and to poor people. B & G MOTOR SALES, INC. 1402 12TH. STREET AUGUSTA, GA. 3G901 1973 Cutlas Supreme Full Power & Air Cond. Blue With Matching Blue Vinyl Top. A Beautiful Ride $4395 1971 Ford Galaxie 500 4 Dr. H.T. Fully Powered & Air Cond. Beautiful Red & White Vinyl $2295 1968 Chev. Pick-up Truck with campus Real Nice ... $1395 Owner Noble Benefield Phone - Res. 736-5538 Bus. 722-0809 You Need i— The NAACP The NAACP Need You Join Today AUGUSTA BRANCH NAACP 1223 Gwinnett Street Augusta, Georgia 30901 I wish to become a member and-enclose $ I enclose $ as a contribution. NAME ; ADDRESS, CITY, STATE, ZIP Annual Membership $4.00, $6.00, SIO.OO, $25.00 and up. Youth Membership (under 17) $1.00;(17 to 21) $2.00. Life Membership $5.00. Memberships of $6.00 and up include a year's subecriptior to The Crisis Magazine at $2.00 THE AUGUSTA NEWS-RE VIEW PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY Mallory K. Millender Editor and Publisher Mailing Address: Box 953 Augusta, Ga. Phone 722-4555 Second Class Postage Paid Augusta, Ga. 30901 SUBSCRIPTION RATES Payable in Advance One Year in Richmond Countyss.oo tax inch 6 Monthss2.so tax incl. Ohe Year elsewheres6.oo tax incl. ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT Classified Advertising Deadline 12 noon on Tuesday Display Advertising Deadline 12 noon On Tuesday News items Printed Free